I show a Lack of coordination, slower reflexes ; rarely have sweats/shakes below 50, as the physical symptoms are not as apparent as they were years ago.. But I know, from the increased emotional/cognitive symptoms; such as irrational thought patterns, indecisiveness,nervousness, irritability,and general anxiety, when I am below 50: TV Commercials about Lysol may make me cry.lol
God bless,
Brunetta
rarely have sweats/shakes below 50, as the physical symptoms are not as apparent as they were years ago.
I've been working hard on avoiding hypos and getting my hypo sensitivity back to where I'd like it. Just last night I checked my bg, got a 58, then held out my hand in front of me and looked, and yes indeedy, it was shaking. I remember when they taught me that trick at the hospital 30 years ago. Maybe I don't feel the shakes like I used to, but I could see them, and that's a good thing!!!
Of course I actually have to stop moving and sit still to see it. That can be hard sometimes!!!
Tim.
While I have drastically reduced the number of hypo BGs in the last few months, I still don't feel an adrenalin release in response to low BGs.
One interesting thing that I notice is a paradoxical heightened cognitive stimulation as BGs drop below 70 mg/dl. It feels a bit like the first rush of caffeine from my first cup of coffee in the morning.
When I drop below 60 mg/dl or so then my brain function starts to deteriorate. I notice it most if I'm trying to compose some written material and I can't easily put things into words.
When I'm really low, below 50 mg/dl, I cannot orally express myself. My brain often endlessly searches for the right word and I just cannot spit it out. This cue, unfortunately depends on me being actively engaged in conversation while I'm dropping. If I'm alone, the thought and realization that I'm low does not seem to cross my mind. That's when an alert from my hypo-alert dog proves especially valuable.
Whenever I go below 100, I take enough glucose tab to get me back up to 100. That means, since 1 gram raises me 6.5 mg, if I go to 90-95, I take a gram. This means I never go low. Furthermore, it means my antenna are in good order: I currently can taste when I am at 80.
I think the most important thing is whether you get reliable hypo symptoms. I don't think the number matters nearly so much as your ability to treat it. Several times, I have been in the 40's and 50's and not had a clue as to what to do, and other people have had to help me. Not good, especially since I live alone. So my doc and I decided to treat anything below 80, because that gives me a cushion to prevent myself from falling any farther.
For those folks who can feel their hypos and treat appropriately when they're in the 50's and 60's, it's perfectly fine, but for me, it's riding too close to the edge. As they say, YMMV.
i can feel the hypos coming on pretty ok, except when im doing sport. yesterday i was all sorted (bg110, 4 hours after novolog) to go running. ran 30 minutes feeling nausea, thought i was high because of said nausea. had to stop finally, checked bg. i was at 40! wth? no shaking, sweating cuz i was running.
if i was at 40 watching tv i think i would feel it...v weird.
maybe i should try that! im still recovering now. i have been a zombie all day despite getting 9 hours of sleep last night!
Both use metric units (mg, dl are metric too). The difference is just the scale and the normation. The scientific community is prefering mmol/l because it can be used in a weightless environment too. This is because it refers to a certain amount of atoms in a liquid environment. So from mmol you can derive the weight of your glucose per liter. Still mg/dl versus mmol/l is a much different debate than kilometers versus miles.
@HPNpilot: with insulin on board the liver will normally not counter regulate. The insulin present is blocking the liver. For some the threshold for the insulin level might be higher but in general it can be doubted that insulin dependend diabetics are capable to counter regulate at all. This is because most of us have much higher insulin levels than healthy people have (the basal and the insulin on board). Normally the body is just releasing micro dosages of insulin to compensate the digested carbs. For the body the present insulin is the indicator that carbohydrates are about to be digested. Thus there is no need to release additional carbohydrates from the liver. In a way it can be said that counter regulation for insulin dependend diabetics is broken by design.
"counter regulation for insulin dependend(t) diabetics is broken by design." Holger,I totally agree with you. Woke up this morning with a bg of 36. I had no shakes nor sweats, but I knew I was low. I was cognizant enough to know I would need 5 glucose tabs instead of the usual 4. I took them, then watched the morning news shows on TV for a half hour while I looked at and sorted yesterday's mail. I got to 55, ate 1/3 a banana , got to 80 in another 20 minutes; then bolussed and ate breakfast. I then Started gardening and cleaning my house.
We are all so different in our response to lows. Because of my broken counteregalutory system, I have to test often, but since I,as Natalie says,retain the ability to treat, and treat properly into the 30's, I guess I do not have the said to be needed"fear" of lows. Should I "fear" them?
God bless,
Brunetta
I think the liver will also produce glucagon simply when our cells don’t have enough glucose as in Dka- usually insulin is very low then. So it could happen when we have too much insulin but not enough glucose ingested. I think it is extremely hard to tell what is going on- I have had spikes after taking sugar for a low which seemed like my liver decided to help out- and I’ve heard this can happen when you’re asleep during a low.
For me I start 'feeling it' when I get below 80. I start feeling 'odd' around 75 and check my BG and will do one glucose tab and then eat. Normally mine will go low when I have been very active, for example after lifting weights, or walking.
my healthy range is from 100 - 140. if i go below 100, i tend to crash terribly fast, going as low as 30s. it is more comfortable to stay at around 130 - 150 and be stable, than to b all over the map, up and down over and over popping those darned glucose tabs or drinking copious amounts of OJ.
i i see myself sliding at 100, i begin tking some tabs (maybe 3)